The ROBOTC Development Team is excited to announce the availability of ROBOTC for VEX Robotics 4.08 – an update for the VEX Cortex and VEX IQ platforms. This new version supports the latest firmware versions provided by VEX Robotics (4.20 for VEX Cortex / 1.09 for VEX IQ) and all of the new features supported by the new firmware updates. Some of these new improvements include:

– Support for the VEXnet 2.0 (white) Radios for the VEX Cortex
– Bug Fixes for the VEX IQ system to prevent “I2C Errors”
– Speed enhancements for VEX IQ for better performance of motors and sensor
– New VEX IQ commands for Gyro sensors

This new version of ROBOTC also supports the VEX IQ “Graphical Natural Language” feature. This new interface allows users to program robots from inside ROBOTC with easy-to-use graphical blocks that can be drag-and-dropped to form a program. Each block represents an individual command from the “text-based” ROBOTC and Natural Language. The new click and drag interface along with the simplified commands of Natural Language allows any robotics user to get up and running with programming their robots as soon as possible. As of today, the Graphical Natural Language commands work with the VEX IQ system, but we’re actively developing support for ALL ROBOTC supported platforms!

Before you can use ROBOTC for VEX Robotics 4.08, you will need to ensure that your VEX devices are up to date. The instructions to update your hardware will be different depending on what hardware setup you may have…

VEX IQ Users

Run the “VEX IQ Firmware Update Utility” and update your VEX IQ brain to firmware version 1.09. You will also have to install the latest ROBOTC firmware from inside of ROBOTC.

VEX Cortex Users (with Black VEXnet 1.0 Keys)

You will need to update your VEX Cortex and VEX Game Controllers with version 4.20 from inside of ROBOTC. After updating your master firmware, you will also have to install the latest ROBOTC firmware as well.

VEX Cortex Users (with White VEXnet 2.0 Keys)

The new VEXnet 2.0 keys have a specific “radio firmware” that you will need to upgrade to enable “Download and Debugging” support. You can find this utility here.

Download the “VEXnet Key 2.0 Firmware Upgrade Utility” and insert your VEXnet 2.0 key to any free USB port on your computer. Follow the instructions on the utility to update each key individually. All VEXnet 2.0 keys must be running the same version in order to function properly.

After updating your VEXnet 2.0 keys, you will need to update your VEX Cortex and VEX Game Controllers with version 4.20 from inside of ROBOTC. After updating your master firmware, you will also have to install the latest ROBOTC firmware as well.

Note that this new firmware version will support download and debugging with both VEXnet 1.0 (black) and VEXnet 2.0 (white) keys.

Here’s the list of changes and enhancements between version 4.06 and 4.08.

Support for wirelessly download and debugging using the new VEXnet 2.0 2.4Ghz radios.

Fixed an issue with launching ROBOTC in “Virtual Worlds” mode, which may incorrectly choose the wrong compiler target.

Fixed issue with Windows XP/Vista/8 where ROBOTC may crash when unplugging/plugging in a device

VEX IQ:

Improved motor responsiveness (16ms update cycles as opposed to 50ms today – this was a mitigation for the I2C issues in the current Master FW)

Improved sensor responsiveness (varies by sensor – this was a mitigation for the I2C issues in the current Master FW)

Gyro sensors can now return either integer values (getGyroDegrees/getGyroRate) or floating point values (getGyroDegreesFloat/getGyroRateFloat)

Fixed a bug where the Gyro sensor was not using the “rate” setting to properly return a deg/sec calculation for the getGyroRate command.

Exposed the ability to calibrate the gyro sensor from the user program and specify the number of “samples” to take during calibration (more samples = less drift = longer calibration time)

Also added a boolean “get” command to read the gyro calibration status bit to know when calibration is done.

New PWM adjustment function – allows users to trigger a specific VEX IQ motor to read the current battery voltage from the VEX IQ brain to adjust the PWM scale factor in the motor to ensure consistent performance. This is automatically done each time a program is executed with ROBOTC, but for longer programs end-users might want to readjust the PWM scale factor.

New “read immediate current” from motor – returns a value in mA

Modified functions for “motor strength” – renamed these to be “motor current limit” and uses values in mA instead of 0-255 byte value. These commands used to be called “getMotorStrength” and “setMotorStrength” – they’re now renamed to “getMotorCurrentLimit” and “setMotorCurrentLimit”

Fixed an issue with “Graphical” mode where users may start up in “Cortex” mode and the function library will appear blank

Fixed an issue when “Natural Language” mode was enabled that normal sample programs may not run properly (using the leftMotor/rightMotor keywords)

Fixed issue with Windows XP/Vista/8 where ROBOTC may crash when unplugging/plugging in a device

If you have any questions or issues, contact us at support@robotc.net. Happy Programming!!